For background and more information about the MiO concept, hop over to our previous review. The general point we made was that by following the recommended flavor portions, the drinks created are rather weak and tasteless. It’s only after adding additional MiO to improve the flavoring that these waters started tasting good. However, at roughly $4 a bottle, you’ll quickly surpass the noted “24 servings” with this practice, thus we questioned the value proposition of MiO to the consumer.

With that out of the way, it’s time to look at two new flavors, MiO Lemonade and MiO Blueberry Lemonade. Both are being pitched as great new tastes for the spring. The MiO line originally launched with 6 flavors: Berry Pomegranate, Sweet Tea, Peach Tea, Mango Peach, Fruit Punch, and Strawberry Watermelon. Orange Tangerine was later added to the lineup with vitamin enhancements, as well as two MiO Energy flavors, Black Cherry and Green Thunder. As you can see, they covered a lot of fruit flavors and teas in the first wave, thus it’s time to pay attention to flavors that produce a little more “pucker.”

MiO Lemonade

MiO Lemonade
The nice thing about a Lemonade flavor vs. something like “Mango Peach,” that that you pretty much know what to expect. I mean, it’s lemonade. How do you mess that up? We filled a tall glass of water and added about a squirt and a half of MiO Lemonade. Predictably, the water turned a yellowish hue. The scent was somewhat acidic, but still sweet. As for the flavor, it’s actually not too bad. Probably one of the better MiO flavors we’ve experienced. Yes, it still tastes a bit watered down, syrup-infused, and artificially sweetened, but overall, not a bad low-cal lemonade option. It wasn’t as good as say a Crystal Light + water lemonade experience, but if you want a quick lemon fix, this will do the trick nicely. I should note that upon squirting MiO into the water, we did stir it so that it properly blended. We’ve found not doing so produces an uneven flavor in your glass or water bottle. In any case, Lemonade is sure to be a hit flavor.

MiO Blueberry Lemonade

MiO Blueberry Lemonade
The unexpected new flavor is Blueberry Lemonade. I’m more of a Raspberry Lemonade guy, but I’m cool with blue. Adding MiO to water with this flavor produces a very faint blue color, akin to Easter egg food coloring (minus the annoying vinegar scent!) In fact, the smell was very berry (hey, that rhymes!) The taste itself reflected that of a light berry beverage, but not so much lemonade-infused. There were faint hints of lemonade, but this is a case where the blueberry flavoring definitely dominates. As noted with the Lemonade flavor, the same syrup/sweetener residue is present, but surprisingly didn’t linger in the aftertaste. Even my wife, who loathes drinks with artificial sweeteners, remarked, “yeah, I could probably drink this.” Considering that MiO uses sucralose, that’s saying something!

Overall, both Lemonade and Blueberry Lemonade are solid flavor additions to the MiO lineup. Cost aside, they taste pretty good for what they are. However, we still much caution that the recommended servings found on the label might not translate in actual use. Perhaps with some lower-cost alternates appearing, this value question may resolve itself in the competitive marketplace.

Also, we should note that we were provided advanced samples by Kraft Foods for the sake of this review. The labels on the bottles appeared to be a much darker grey color than the rest of the MiO lineup. However, since these were labeled as “product sample” versions, perhaps that was intentional. We note from other included artwork that the bottle color of both Lemonade and Blueberry Lemonade seems to match the rest of the classic MiO lineup.